


Nuit De La Lune

by mikeyrevengeway



Category: Fall Out Boy, Halsey (Musician), Mindless Self Indulgence, My Chemical Romance, PVRIS (Band), Panic! at the Disco, Paramore
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Alternate Universe - Werewolf, Character Turned Into Vampire, Frank Is A Little Shit, M/M, Mention of dead parents, Multi, Murder, Shitty Writing, Vampire Gerard Way, Vampire Hunters, basically emo gay twilight actually kill me, mention of vladimir putin, trigger warning: awful puns, why do i feel the need to fuck ashley up
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-30
Updated: 2016-11-28
Packaged: 2018-07-11 05:05:39
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 6
Words: 18,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7030162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mikeyrevengeway/pseuds/mikeyrevengeway
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fire.<br/>That was all Frank could remember of his parents. <br/>The smell of smoke and the darkness that followed, that was all he could remember from the old house, and the firetruck's sirens, the last look at the burned shell of his home, and the silver ring found in the ashes he had worn since he was six.</p><p>He now lives in a children's home, well, his fifth children's home, because he kept getting into fights and having to be moved to protect the others.<br/>And he still kept being rebellious, sneaking out at night because the new home is just the same as the others. Boring kids, annoying adults, just not Frank's style. But the town was different; darker, like something was lurking in the alleyways and shadows.<br/>He wasn't that far off in his assumption.<br/>He soon comes to discover the truth about how his parents died, and the real darkness in the alleyways of the town.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Ah Yes Emotional Trauma That's A Great Way To Start Off The Book

Frank already hated the new home.

It was smaller than the last one, and there were less kids, sure; but the kids were horribly noisy, and the women who ran the new home were barely tolerable.  
Alyssa was tall and gave Frank a look that old teachers usually gave him when he walked into their classrooms with his piercings and skinny jeans and rebellious attitude. Frank immediately didn't like her, despite how cool her blue hair looked.

Jen was more tolerable, she had complimented his Black Flag shirt when he was brought in with his things and had a septum piercing so Frank could write her off as the cooler and more likable of the two.

In all honesty, Frank couldn't see many problems with the home, but he still couldn't stand it, because it was his fifth home and every home was always worse than the last.  
The only solace he could find in this new hell was his headphones and the fact that he had snagged a top bunk in the boy's room.  
There were a few kids that tried to introduce themselves, but Frank needed at least eight days or more (usually) to let any bit of his pretentious attitude aside to allow someone to talk to him. And with each word the kids said, he just turned up his music louder and pretended to be mute so that they would leave him alone.

Sure, it was dick-ish, but Frank didn't want to start a fight his first day, which had happened before: jackass kid stole his ring, and he was out of the home before he had even been there forty-eight hours.

His ring was all he had left of his parents, and it was the only thing that he still had from the old house.

There was a vague voice calling the kids to dinner, and Frank's mind said no, you'll stay here and be an angsty bitch, but his stomach had different plans. So he paused his iPod, which wasn't technically even his, as he had stolen it from a girl from his last home with good music taste. She hadn't noticed, as she was too distracted with the little bags of cocaine she had thought nobody knew about.

He made his way down from the bunk, following the other kids to the dining room, and taking a seat next to a little girl with big blue eyes and long Auburn hair pulled into a fancy braid. Dinner was pasta, and with Frank being the Italian asshole he was, he was pretty content with the choice.  
The room was silent as everyone ate, everyone eating as though they hadn't seen food in weeks. There were eleven people in total at the table, five girls and four boys with Frank for the kids, with Jen and Alyssa at each end of the table making it eleven. Once everyone had finished, Jen tapped her fork against her glass, catching the attention of the kids at the table.

"Guys, we've got a new kid here," She gestured to Frank. "this is Frank, everyone be nice to him while he's here. Frank, if you could introduce yourself to the kids?" She gave him a smile and Frank decided that he might as well try not to be an arrogant bastard at the table on his first day.

"I, uh, my name is Frank Iero. I'm sixteen, I like music, and, uh, I'm not very interesting." There was a kid across the table with big lips and a forehead to match who snickered a little at that, but it seemed kind-hearted, so Frank let it slide.

"What kind of music do you listen to?" The little girl next to him asked, eyes wide and curious.

"I like Black Flag, Misfits, uh, punky stuff." He offered the girl a half smile, which gained a huge grin from her.

"Black Flag? You're racist." A boy who looked to be the most jackassy kid in the fifth grade said, making Frank bite his tongue to refrain from saying, "and you're a bitch." in response.

"Alex, stop; it's a band. I play it sometimes during leisure." Jen said, eyeing the kid with a stern look that was enough to shut him up.

"Okay guys, put away your dishes and you have leisure until eight thirty. Older kids, you have until nine thirty." Jen said, the kids clearing the plates faster than Frank had seen in any other home.  
-  
Leisure was just all the kids going into the basement, which was filled with toys for the younger kids, video games, and chairs where Frank could listen to music and watch the dynamic of the kids.

He had learned in his ten years of being passed from home to home that you had to make alliances quickly, and to never get too close to anyone, because you would eventually leave, and it would be hell if you got attached. You also had to figure out who the alpha was in the homes, so then you could make sure to always stay on their good side so they wouldn't send anyone coming after you in the night.

Frank didn't do much during leisure, just sat in the corner with his eyes closed listening to music. That was, until the little girl who he had sat next to you during dinner came up to him and tapped on his knee.

"Whatcha listenin' to?" She asked, looking at Frank with wide eyes.

He pulled a headphone out and help it up to her ear, her face lighting up as soon as she heard the song.

"I know this song! Jenny's played it before!" She hummed along to the song for a bit, which was possibly the cutest thing Frank had ever seen a kid do at a home, which made his heart warm little and cause him to pause his music so he could speak with this lovely little girl.

"What's your name?" He asked, taking his headphones and putting them on the ground next to him.

"Ava Rae." She beamed at her proclamation, which was destroying Frank right now, goddamn kids for being so cute.

"How old are you?" Frank asked, unable to keep a smile off his face.

"I'm seven and a half!" And Frank literally melted right then because this kid was so cute and ruining his motto about going to a new home.

He chatted with Ava for a little while longer, until Jen called everyone under thirteen upstairs to go to bed.

The remainder of the kids were Frank, the boy with the big lips, and a girl with black hair cut to her shoulders. He closed his eyes and just listened to his music until he felt a tap his head and Jen nodded her head in the direction of the stairs.  
-  
Frank settled himself into his bunk still playing his music. He tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep. The first night at a new home was always the worst, it was impossible for Frank to fall asleep.

He sat up in his bunk, just barely scraping his head on the ceiling as he pushed the covers off himself. Her looked around the room, the three other boys sleeping peacefully, the one underneath him with the big forehead snoring softly. Frank noticed the window, just slightly ajar to let in the cool summer breeze. There was a ledge that led to the roof from the window, just large enough for Frank to sit on.

Fuck it, Frank thought, silently climbing down from his bunk and opening the window for him to slide out; thankfully the hinges didn't creak.

Frank sat on the roof, looking out at the little road that led into town, and the dark forest across the street. Frank was wary of the darkness of the town, the tall trees and misty air that gave off the same chilling vibe that horror movies did. He had gotten the same chill when he was driving into the town with the social worker, as he had noticed the little red crosses on each building in town, and the glances between some of the older townsfolk that read to him as something not to be trusted.

And Frank, being the impulsive asshole that he was, decided to take matters into his own hands to investigate the new town, in the manner of climbing down the side of the house with assistance from the drain pipe.

His feet hit the ground with a soft crunch, and he began walking down the sidewalk towards the town, still in his pajama pants and black flag shirt.

The air seemed the get colder and darker as Frank got closer to the center of town, and he got chills as he walked.

He thought he heard something in the alleyway ahead, but dismissed it as a stray cat or bird or something along those lines. But as he approached, the noises got louder and sounded of struggle, a yelp of pain being let out from someone.

Frank decided if someone was being mugged the least he could do would be to help them out, and he walked to the entrance of the alleyway, expecting to see a stereotypical guy in a ski mask shaking a guy in a button-up from money. But that wasn't exactly what he got.

There were two men in the alleyway, one tall and lanky, dressed in all black with dark hair and skin so pale it was almost translucent. The other man looked just like any old middle-aged guy walking around town, aside from the terrified expression in his face. The shorter man was being pinned against the wall by the pale one, struggling against his grip. The taller man chuckled darkly before leaning down quickly and attaching his mouth to the other man's neck where Frank knew there was a critical vein.

The man let out another shout of pain, but soon quieted, his eyes rolling back into his head and stopping his struggle. His mouth hung open and his head lolled to the side, his skin turning paler with each passing moment as the taller man sucked at his neck.

Frank didn't know long the was stood there watching the epidemic, but as the man's body went limp and pale until he looked like a ghost. The taller man let go of his shoulders and pulled away from the corpse's neck, his mouth and chin covered in what must've been blood.

Realization hit Frank like a train, and he felt glued to the ground as his heartbeat accelerated and the tall...thing dropped the now lifeless body to the ground, the corpse drained completely of blood and color.

The thing seemed to notice Frank's prescience and turned to him, licking the crimson stain off it's lips before flashing Frank a terrifying smile.  
Frank noticed it's elongated incisors right away.

The thing launched itself at Frank fast, impossibly fast, pinning him against the wall with a disgusting grin and an iron grip.

"Well, well, well." It spoke coolly, sending a shudder down Frank spine. "You're out a little bit past your bedtime, aren't you?"

Frank felt on the verge of passing out. The thing's breath stunk of blood, it's eyes were hungry and dangerous. It was horrifying to see, and despite all the fights he's been in, and all the mean kids he's faced, nothing could prepare him for a monster straight from a horror movie.

"You'll just be a little snack, a little drink to refresh me. But you'll taste excellent with your youth, I'm tired of middle aged blood." The thing opened it's mouth and leaned down to the same vein on Frank's neck it had sunk it's teeth into on the other man. It sniffed, and Frank prepared himself for his demise, closing his eyes and going limp, his last image would be it's incisors growing to drain his blood.

But the thing retched and threw Frank to the ground sideways, and he landed on top of the drained corpse.

"Venatorum est sanguis!" It screeched, staring at Frank in disgust. It shuddered once before jumping onto the building Frank had just previously been shoved against, leaving Frank in the alleyway on top of the body that was colder than he had expected.

He quickly regained his ability to stand, jumping to his feet and looked back at the body with his heart racing.

There were two puncture wounds in the man's neck, perfectly circular and clean.

Frank tried to wrap his head around what he had just seen.

He had just witnessed a murder. A murder. Not to mention that the murder was something Frank reckoned to be nothing less than a blood-sucking demon he had never thought to exist until now. It was all a little much, and Frank had one last look at the body before taking off out of the alley and down the road to the home.

He didn't know what the thing, the vampire, had said, but it wasn't in any language Frank recognized.

He climbed back up the drain pipe and back into the window, sitting in the windowsill to catch his breath.

His mind was racing, trying to make up some reasonable explanation for what he had seen, and must've been muttering under his breath, because the boy with the big forehead had woken up and whispered to him, "what's wrong man?"

Frank looked at him, shuddering and feeling cold despite the warmth of the room. The boy sat up and gave him a strange look before asking again:

"What's wrong?"

Frank began to shake even more, coming to the realization that he did in fact see a vampire kill someone, and narrowly escaped the same fate somehow. The boy seemed to notice his shaking and stood up, grabbing Frank's hands and leading him into the bathroom.

The boy flicked the light on before speaking again.

"Dude, what happened to you?" He paused for a second. "I'm Brendon by the way."

Frank nodded to signify some gesture of hello, still shaking horribly. He caught a glimpse of himself in the bathroom mirror: he was horribly pale and looked as though he had just seen someone die, which pretty much for the situation.

Brendon asked again. "Dude, you look you've just seen someone die, what happened?" Frank looked into Brendon's eyes, hoping he would understand the message he was sending.

Brendon's eyes widened. "You did see someone die." He sat Frank down on the toilet lid and got a damp washcloth for Frank to put on his forehead.  
He sat down on the bathtub rim across from Frank, leaning forward as he spoke.

"Tell me what happened, I promise I'll believe you." He gave Frank a gentle but honest look.

"Alleyway. In town. There was-it was-a, a vampire." Frank sounded like an asylum patient, no matter what Brendon had said, he knew this was far fetched.  
But Brendon nodded grimly, cursing under his breath before saying anything to Frank.

"I believe you. I've seen them too. You're not crazy, they're here in town. I'm not the best to help you with it, but I know some people who are. We'll go tomorrow after breakfast, okay?" Frank could hardly believe what he was hearing. There were vampires, real life vampires, in this town he found himself living in until he was eventually moved, and he was behind told he wasn't crazy.

"Do other people know about them?" He asked Brendon, thinking back to the red crosses on the buildings.  
"Yes," Brendon said, lowering his voice to a whisper. "They've been around for a long time from what I've been told, and it's mostly older people in town that know about them. They don't come into town unless they're feeding though, which I'm pretty sure you saw. Sorry, I'm not the best to talk about this with, I only know a bit from what the people I've told you about told me. We should try to sleep now, as we've got a bit of a long day ahead of us." Brendon stood up, walking to the door before Frank stopped him.  
"Brendon?" The other boy stopped and turned to Frank. "Yeah?"

"Do you know what 'venatorum est sanguis' means?" Brendon thought for a moment before replying.

"I know it's Latin, but I don't speak it. We can ask the people I'm taking you to, they'll be sure to know." Frank nodded and stood up, following Brendon back to the bedroom and falling asleep with the words the vampire spoke ringing in his head.


	2. There Is A Brief Mention Of Vladimir Putin In This Chapter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i actually wrote the first four chapters of this book before i made this account because i posted them on my wattpad, so ill just update those all today and update the fifth chapter when i finish it (if that makes any sense) enjoy!

Frank woke up with someone shaking his shoulder, which he did not appreciate in the slightest, as he was actually someone who liked sleeping peacefully without someone assaulting him. He opened his eyes and blinked a few times to see a boy with a big forehead looking at him from the side of the bed.

“Frank get up, it’s time for breakfast.” Brendon said and jumped off the bed he was standing on to reach Frank’s side. Frank sat up and rubbed his eyes before kicking his covers off and climbing down from his bunk, following Brendon into the kitchen where a huge breakfast was being prepared.

Jen was preparing the food, standing at the stove with at least five pans on the burners, how, Frank didn’t know. But the smell was absolutely amazing, so Frank decided not to criticize the amount of pans on the burner this early in the morning, especially when he started remembering what had happened last night.

Brendon had said he knew people that could help him, which calmed Frank’s nerves a little bit, but he was still freaked the hell out, because he saw someone freaking die, and that was something you couldn't get over that fast without being a sociopath or something. The other kids were milling around sleepily, some watching the TV in the living room half-heartedly, while others were talking with Alyssa, who looked like she needed some coffee badly.

Frank followed Brendon like a lost puppy, not knowing the routine of the home yet to go off on his own business. Brendon relaxed into the couch and watched the TV, managing to snag the remote from the coffee table and flicking through channels.

He turned the news on momentarily, thumb ready to change it, but he hesitated when he heard the story.

“There was another murder in Rosewood last night, the body of thirty-seven year old Andrew Kelly found in an alleyway, completely drained of blood. The cause of the-” Brendon changed the channel at this point, but the whole room had focused on the news story for the few seconds it was on. Brendon cast a sideways glance at Frank, who was attempting to not absolutely lose his shit at this point.

He saw some of the younger kids give each other strange, questioning glances, but they didn’t seem to take the story to heart, whereas Jen had almost dropped the plate of toast she was holding when she heard the story. The TV was now playing some kids cartoon that seemed to entrance the younger kids in the room, until Jen called everyone to breakfast.

All the kids took their seats and started digging in almost as soon as they had sat down, Frank doing the same. The food was delicious, and Frank had only just realized how hungry he was. 

The room was completely silent as everyone ate, and the food was gone amazingly fast. Brendon finished shoveling the last of his eggs into his mouth before turning to Jen.  
“Jen, can I take Frank out to town today? Just wanna show him around a bit, since he’s never been here before.” Jen looked a little hesitant to allow this, and Frank’s heart froze in his chest as she took a breath before answering.

“Yes, but you need to be very careful. Be back before dark or you’re grounded.” She nodded to the kids as a signal to start clearing the table, which was done in a fast and organized manner that left Frank really impressed. Everyone went off to get dressed and do whatever, Frank pulling on a simple black shirt when he got back to the boy’s room. He pulled on some jeans and turned to Brendon, who was struggling almost comically with a pair of skinny jeans.

“Having some trouble there?” Frank joked, Brendon cursing him under his breath as he finally buttoned up the jeans.

“Christ, why do they make these so goddamned difficult to put on?” Brendon asked Frank, who only laughed and shrugged in response.

“Thats a swear! I’ll tell Jen!” The boy whom Frank reckoned to be the most annoying kid he’d ever met, the same one who called him racist the night before. Brendon looked at the kid and back at Frank, rolling his eyes before turning back to the kid in exasperation.

“Alex, if I give you five dollars, will you promise to shut the hell up?” Frank bit back a laugh, and Alex looked absolutely scandalized by the fact that Brendon had just said H-E-double hockey-sticks, but he nodded and Brendon threw a five dollar bill at him without looking, and then Alex left the room, leaving Frank and Brendon the only two people in the room.

Brendon turned back to Frank and sighed dramatically, Frank laughing along with him. Brendon quickly turned serious, gesturing for Frank to follow him out the door.  
They walked into the kitchen-living room area, where Jen and Alyssa were discussing something in hurried whispers, stopping when they saw the two boys.

“We’re gonna head out. We’ll be back before dark, I promise.” Brendon said, Alyssa and Jen nodding before Brendon turned and walked to the door, Frank right behind him.

-

They had been walking for at least fifteen minutes now, and Frank was beginning to wonder if Brendon was actually taking him somewhere to kill him, which was beyond crazy; Brendon was only fourteen, but still, after the shit Frank had seen, he was pretty paranoid.

Brendon turned and started down a dirt driveway, Frank just able to make out the figure of a large house at the end of it. He looked at Brendon, who looked completely at ease, unlike Frank, who was sweating and tapping his fingers on his thigh with nerves.

They reached the end of the driveway and Frank taken aback for a moment at not only the size of the house, but the design of it.

It was an old Victorian, wooden trim painted over in a dark purple, possibly to mask the previous darkness of the house. There were two bay windows in the front, trim carved with intricate designs. The roof was shingled and elegant, almost intimidating in a sense. Frank was gaping at the home, but Brendon acted as though it was nothing out of the ordinary. Frank looked at him questioningly, but Brendon just kept walking up the stone steps to the stained glass-windowed doors of the house, leaving Frank to run after him.  
Brendon knocked on the door, and Frank heard the sound of footsteps coming down the hallway. A man with curly hair down to his shoulders opened the door, wearing a grey shirt and a belt filled with silver bullets.

“Hey Bren, who’s this?” The man looked wary of Frank, and Frank could say the same for him. A man who wore a belt filled with bullets was kind of intimidating. 

“This is Frank. He needs you guy’s help. It’s urgent.” Frank saw the look in the man’s eyes change to something more sympathetic, with a hint of questioning in them.  
“Come inside,” The man said. “My name’s Joe. We’ll see what we can do to help you.” He smiled at Frank and gestured for them to come inside, closing the door behind the two boys.

“‘Trick! Andy! We’ve got company!” Joe called up the stairs, Frank noting the surprisingly modern furniture of the house. There was a clamoring upstairs, and two other men appeared at the top of the stairs, making their way down quickly.

One of the men Frank reckoned to be shorter than him, which was a relief, and the other looked like he could snap Frank in half with just his fingers. The both had the same belts on as Joe, except the taller one had them strapped across his chest.

“Frank, these are Andy and Patrick.” Joe gestured to the men, who introduced themselves to Frank quickly.

Joe turned back to Frank. “So, what’s the thing you need help with?” He asked, Frank feeling his hands go clammy at the thought of the vampire’s fangs close to his throat.

“C-can I sit down? It’s kind of a lot for me to process.” Joe gave a quick look of worry to Patrick and Andy, before nodding and leading the group into the half modern-half victorian living room.

Frank and Brendon sat on one couch, Joe, Patrick, and Andy sat across from them on another. Frank got the odd feeling of this being like a “meeting the parents before taking their child out” scene, although it honestly couldn’t be more different.

“Last night, I was walking around town, and...I- I saw this thing in the alleyway. It killed that man, the one that was on the news? It-it completely drained him of blood. I watched it happen. It tried to get me too…” Frank took a deep breath, watching the changing expressions of the men in front of him. Patrick looked the most worried, eyes wide with shock. Joe and Andy looked concerned, but more confused than anything else.

“What do you mean ‘tried to’?” Andy asked, Frank’s shoulder twitching when he spoke. Damn nerves.

“Well, It, uh, it was about to bite me, but it...sniffed me? And it threw me to the ground, like I was toxic or something. Then it said something I didn’t understand. Brendon said it might be Latin.” Frank watched the expressions on the men’s faces again, Patrick looked even more worried now, and Joe and Andy seemed to match his concern.

“Do you remember what it said?” Patrick asked, leaning forward on his elbows.

“Uh, yeah. ‘Venatorum est sanguis’. I have no idea what that means, but it said it in a kind of hateful way, and kind of scared as well.” Patrick had gone pale when Frank had said the Latin words, turning to Andy and Joe with shock and fear in his eyes.

Brendon seemed annoyed by the silence, and reacted accordingly. “Do you know what it means?” He asked Patrick, who nodded and spoke.

“Venatorum est sanguis. Hunter’s blood.” Frank must've looked beyond confused, because Patrick began to explain further. 

“Vampire hunter’s blood. Your family must’ve been hunters. What’s your last name?”

“Iero.” Frank heard an audible gasp from Joe, and Andy seemed to flinch at the name. Patrick set his jaw and nodded, explaining their reaction. 

“The Ieros were some of the best hunters of their time. The last two remaining members of the family died nine years ago. Nobody knew that you were alive, or even existed Frank. How did you get out?”

Frank had absolutely no idea how to answer. He had just found out that his parent were freaking vampire hunters for Christ’s sake. This was a lot to process in such a short period of time.

“I-I have no fucking idea to be completely honest. I’m just actually mildly losing my shit right now, as it’s not everyday that you find out that your dead parents were vampire hunters the day after you watch a man-and almost you-get murdered by one.” Patrick looked startled at Frank’s sudden outburst, but kept cool when speaking again.  
“I know it’s a lot to handle. I’m sorry that this was all dropped on you so fast. But this may just be the slightest bit of a problem for you, involving the vampires, I mean.” Frank didn’t know what to make of that. He just stayed quiet and let Patrick explain more, Frank could tell he liked speaking about this kind of stuff.

“And by that, I mean that you may get targeted by the vampire coven. We can protect you of course, but I think you could maybe uphold you family legacy.” Patrick got a sly look in his eyes, which worried Frank a little, but he didn’t want to argue with a man who had bullets strapped to him casually.

“Can I do it too?” Brendon chimed in, Frank saw the almost childlike eagerness in his eyes when he spoke.

Andy laughed and nodded, the mood of the room shifting to one more light-hearted, and Frank felt almost comfortable in the house now.

“C’mon kids, let's show you some of your family history.” Andy said, looking at Frank and Brendon. “And your weird interests.” He directed the last part at Brendon, who rolled his eyes at him. The group followed him upstairs and into a large room filled with strange artifacts and pictures, and Frank felt a little overwhelmed by all of it.

“Quick history slash fact lesson: Vampires are everywhere in the world, except Antarctica and the Arctic because it's too goddamn cold there. Most of them lay low, but in some parts of Europe and Asia, they can be kind of big figures in their countries. I’m not sure you would know that many, I don’t believe you're big on keeping up with Asian and European pop culture. But there is-”

“Vladimir Putin!” A voice from the corner of the room said, startling everyone. Frank even saw Patrick had gotten out a rather large knife, which furthered Frank’s mental note not to mess with any of these guys, even if Patrick kind of looked like a teddy bear.

The voice spoke up again, and a figure rose from the mess, hands up him surrender. “Don’t shoot! I’m innocent!” The figure was grinning cheekily, and Frank saw that he had a completely normal set of teeth. But his eyes were an almost inhuman bright hazel, which gave away that he wasn’t the most human he could be.

“Peter! What the hell are you doing here?” Patrick said, exasperation plain in his voice. Peter chuckled and stepped into full view, hands still up. He was wearing grey skinny jeans and a black shirt with the Joy Division logo on it. Frank decided that he was tolerable.

“I’ve been here since last night really. Word got around about the murder and I wanted to help. Ray doesn’t know I’m here.” His smile turned into a look of worry. “Please don’t tell him I was here. He’ll make me go without dinner again.” Frank had no idea what abusive relationship the poor guy was in, but he knew it wasn’t good.

“You should maybe get out of that relationship if he’s being that controlling of you. He doesn’t sound like a good partner.” All eyes turned to Frank, and Peter laughed almost hysterically.

“Ray and I? Partners? Please, Ray’s as straight as the pole Joe’s mother dances on.” Peter winked at Joe, who didn’t look amused in the slightest.

“I could shoot you, you know.” He deadpanned, Peter’s cocky smile returning. “I dare you, Trohman.” Joe pulled a gun Frank didn’t even know he had out of his belt, aiming it at Peter with a glare.

“Joe! Don’t shoot him, he’s not worth the bullets.” Patrick said, Joe lowering his gun hesitantly. Patrick directed his attention to Peter.

“We won’t tell Ray you were here, but you need to stop breaking in. Oh, and you can help us with something. New case.” Peter snorted at that.

“Case? What is this, some crime show? Am I the comic relief that gets all the hotties?” Peter wiggled his eyebrows, and Frank was starting to grow more and more annoyed with his cocky attitude.

“Shut up Pete. This is Frank. Frank Iero.” Patrick gestured to Frank, and Pete’s light eyes grew at his name.

“Iero? Like, the Ieros?” Frank nodded, and Pete turned to Frank with new interest.

“So, you don’t know anything about fighting vamps, right? Probably knew nothing about your family before today, I can tell from the look in your eyes. What’s the case here?” He turned back to Patrick with his last words, but Frank was still surprised by how fast he caught on to the situation.

“He watched a vampire kill someone last night, almost got the same fate. But the vamp backed off when it smelled his blood.” Patrick said, Pete raising his eyebrows and turned to Frank.

“In all honesty they sound like a coward. what did they look like?” Pete asked, and Frank tried to recall the details of the vampire.

“It was tall and lanky, but pretty strong for something that looked like it had some kind of eating disorder. It had black hair and a jawline that could cut diamonds if I’m being honest. That's all I really remember.” Pete had gone a little pale when Frank mentioned the jawline, but his facial expression never changed.

“Okay, I’ll see what I can do to help. And Pat, thanks for not ratting me out.” Pete smiled at Patrick, who just crossed his arms and eyed Pete pointedly. 

“We’ll see about that. Just help us out and we’ll keep quiet.” He turned to Frank and Brendon. “You two are gonna get some lovely education today. Hope you’re ready.” Both Frank and Brendon nodded, and Patrick smiled at them.

“Good. Let’s get started.”


	3. This Actually Gets Pretty Intense Towards The End Damn

“Okay so vampires are not, in fact, indestructible. They can be killed with a silver bullet to the heart-iron works too-and sunlight. They also- ugh, what is it Pete?” Patrick glared at Pete, who was raising his hand like he was in high school, which was kind off odd because he looked like he was in his early twenties to Frank.

“You forgot to mention that vampires have a very high pain tolerance. They’re kind of like demons so they do feel pain, but it just feels like a poke when they get shot or maimed or whatever.” Pete looked quite smug at that, while Patrick looked a little more than annoyed at this.

“Pete, please let me teach the children. I know you’re a goody-two-shoes about the subject but please shut the hell up.” Patrick said. Pete leaned back in his chair and held his hands up in surrender.

“I’m not a child! I’m fourteen!” Brendon leaned forward in his chair and gave Patrick an offended look. 

Frank honestly didn’t know what was happening at this point; for some time they had been learning a lot about vampires and the history of them, which was actually really cool. But then Pete started interjecting his own little facts which just got Patrick agitated, and Joe and Andy had started making bets about how long it would take Patrick to lose it. Andy had bet fifteen dollars it would take Patrick to lose it, and Joe had bet it would take ten minutes. So far it seemed like Joe would win.

Patrick rubbed his temples and turned away from the makeshift classroom situation they had set up, and Andy started reaching in his pockets for what Frank assumed to be money. Pete leaned over and whispered to Frank:

“Patrick is annoyed with me. Pray for my life, because he has silver bullets and if he gets agitated enough he will whip out his gun.” Pete winked at Frank and clicked his tongue against his teeth.

“What does that mean?” Frank whispered back, for no reason really, because he knew everyone could hear him and probably thought he was a jackass already.

“You could say that I’m a bit of a lunatic.” Pete said that at regular volume, which made Patrick whip around with such fury in his eyes Frank was genuinely scared.  
“That.” Patrick said, pointing at Pete with the fire still raging in his eyes. “Was possibly the worst thing you’ve ever said.” Frank noticed Joe and Andy were laughing absolutely hysterically behind him, while Brendon looked just as confused as he felt.

“Um...what does that mean?” Brendon asked Patrick, which just made Andy and Joe laugh more. Patrick sighed and shook his head at Pete, throwing his hands up in the air before turning to Brendon.

“Pete just made a joke about his…problem.” Patrick said while eyeing Pete, who was still smirking like hell.

“The ‘problem’ Patrick is talking about it the fact that I’m a werewolf. Don’t understand why it has to be such a big deal. I haven’t killed anyone, have I?” He directed the last question at Patrick.

Frank was still trying to process the fact that Pete was a werewolf while Patrick was looking at Pete in utter exasperation. A werewolf? Patrick had briefly mentioned werewolves in his little lesson, saying that they hadn't typically been enemies with vampires until the last century, when the urbanization of the world let them move to places where they couldn’t be recognized or detected. They had fought over territory, and the werewolves had killed a very important vampire leader in a fight. Patrick said that they had been at each other’s throat since. Frank understood now why Pete hung out with the vampire hunters.

“-and you need to stop being so open about being a werewolf, someone from town could find out and they can and will kill you.” Frank had only just noticed Patrick was giving Pete a lecture, and Pete looked like was ready to take Patrick’s gun and use the bullets on himself.

“Patrick. Patrick. Trick. Patrick!” Joe caught Patrick’s attention, the smaller man turning towards him in a flurry. 

“What?” He gritted his teeth as he spoke, yet still seemed hardly terrifying to Frank.

“How about you cool down for a bit and I teach ‘the children’ the rest of this. Okay?” Patrick started to protest, but took a deep breath and nodded. He went down the stairs. Joe turned to Brendon, Frank and Pete and smiled.

“Let’s get educated.”

-

Joe was actually a pretty good teacher, he made it fun and didn’t go around questions Brendon asked. Frank learned that vampires were quote unquote, “Hot assholes who like to suck blood from people” which Frank thought was the simplest explanation they could’ve received. Patrick had returned about twenty minutes after, seen that Joe was handling everything pretty well, and then had gone back downstairs. It had turned out he had made lunch for everyone, and they had eaten sandwiches and then gone back to learning about vampires and various other supernatural beings until it was almost dark.

Brendon and Frank has said goodbye and left the house, promising to come back again tomorrow for some, ‘training’. Currently, they were walking down the long driveway and talking about the events that had happened that day, Frank hardly nervous about the impending nightfall.

“Dude, your parents were kick-ass vampire hunters. Thats cool as hell.” Brendon said. His back was turned to the road and he was walking backwards in front of Frank so he could still see him.

“Pretty cool for the fact that they’re dead.” It came out harsher than Frank had intended, and Brendon looked a little shocked at his reaction.

“Sorry man. Didn’t mean to upset you.” Frank cringed a little when Brendon apologized. He felt dumb and wanted to take back that moment and just say it so he didn’t make it seem like he was bitter about it. But alas, time travel wasn't real.

“It’s fine, I was just…” Frank trailed off as something in the woods caught his eye.

There was a dark figure standing on the edge of the forest opposite the road where Brendon and Frank were walking. It was tall and lanky, and it’s eyes were the only thing that were distinguishable about it’s features. They were a light brown that glowed ominously in the dark and sent a shiver up Frank’s spine.

“What is it? What....” Brendon asked, turning his head to where Frank was looking. Frank saw his eyes widen, but kept his gaze on the figure to see if it would move. 

“Frank. We need to go. now. “ Brendon sounded scared, and his skin had paled as he looked at the figure. Frank didn’t hesitate to nod, stepping away down the sidewalk while he stared down the figure. Brendon followed him closely. 

The figure turned to look at them as they backed up down the sidewalk and began to follow them from a distance, Frank feeling his heart beat faster as the figure started to get closer.

“Fuck this, we’re running. Go!” Brendon said, turning and shooting down the sidewalk faster than Frank would’ve thought he could. Frank took one last look at the figure, which was now almost parallel to him on the sidewalk, and sprinted after Brendon as fast as he could. He couldn’t shake the feeling that the thing was following them and kept running faster, feeling like his lungs were going to burst as he reached the driveway of the home where Brendon was already waiting. 

“Get the fuck in the house now.” Brendon said with his eyes behind Frank. Frank practically flew through the door and heard Brendon’s footsteps right behind him as the door closed. It seemed like everyone in the house was in the living room at the moment, and Jen and Alyssa were standing in the center of it all with their arms crossed.

“Its after dark.” Jen started, Frank feeling his heart stop. He felt like a puppy being scolded right now, even though Jen had hardly said anything. He stayed still and silent as Jen continued talking.

‘Where were you all day? Did you get lunch? Why do you look like you just ran a marathon?” Jen asked these questions to Brendon, who looked hardly as panicked as Frank felt, in fact, he looked almost completely at ease.

“We walked around town for a bit and I showed him some places, then I took him to a friends house to introduce him. We got food at the friend's house, and on our way back we realized we were late, so we had a race to see who could get here first. Frank won, but I think he’s very distressed about it.” Frank was impressed by how easily the lies slipped of his tongue.

“Which friends?” Alyssa asked, eyebrows narrowed at Frank.

“Patrick and Joe and Andy.” Brendon said, which got a scoff from Alyssa and a stern look from Jen.

“Brendon you know that they’re in their twenties, right? They could be pedophiles for all you know.” Alyssa said. Frank snorted at that, which grabbed the attention of Alyssa and Jen.

“Those men are quite straight, if I do say so myself. A gay man would never wear what they were wearing, and I have some liability to that.” Frank had never seen someone looked as shocked as Alyssa did when he said that, and he could tell Jen was struggling to keep a straight face.

“Well okay then Frank.” Jen said, holding back a snicker. “But you two are still in trouble for this. Go up to your room and wait until we call you down.” Frank and Brendon nodded and turned to the stairs, Frank catching a vague figure in the window, the same one that had been following them.

The light from inside the house was shining on its face now, but Frank still couldn’t point out any key features about its face. But Frank could tell that it was the same vampire who had attacked him the night previously. And it knew where he lived now.

He ripped his attention from the window and ran up the stairs ahead of Brendon, flinging himself into the room and climbing up the ladder to his bunk as fast as he could. Brendon walked into the room moments later, giving Frank a questioning look as he walked up to the bunk.

“What was that?” He asked, and Frank flinched and started biting his lip.

“It was outside the window, looking at me. It knows where we live, Brendon.” Brendon’s expression changed to one of surprise.

“Shit.” He said, leaning up against the bed across from Frank and his. “It can’t come into the house unless we invite it, so we’re safe for right now. It’ll probably lurk around for a while and leave once it realizes it can’t get to us.” Frank nodded, whispering an ‘okay’ before lying down in his bunk and waiting to be called down by Jen and Alyssa.

-

The had called Frank and Brendon down after about half an hour, giving them a lecture about keeping track of time and staying safe and all that stuff Frank had heard countless times before, which meant he really only half-listened, as he was worried about the vampire that had tried to kill him outside of the house. Jen and Alyssa had given them dinner but had sent them off to bed without and leisure time. Not that Frank minded that much, he would just sit in the corner and try not to absolutely lose it, so it wasn’t much of a loss on his part.

It was around midnight now, and Frank was the only person awake in the boy’s room from what he could tell. He’d given up on listening to music, because he couldn’t get it out of his head that the vampire, despite what both Joe and Brendon had told him about vampires having to be invited in, would jump through the window and kill him in his bed.  
He had been staring up at the ceiling when he heard voices outside the house.

The window was open and the room was on the second floor, so the voices were pretty hard to hear, but they were voices nonetheless.

“What are you doing here?” The first voice said, the sickening familiarity to it leaving Frank almost paralyzed in his bed, hooked into the conversation.

“Ego servo oculum venatorum pariunt.” The second speaker said, the vampire.

The first speaker sighed before speaking again. “I don’t understand when you talk like that. Say it in english.” Frank had developed some form of an idea of who the familiar speaker was, but he needed proof to see if he was right.

“Fine.” The vampire had a slight accent to its voice, but it sounded human, which was a little terrifying to Frank, because he had seen it literally murder a man in cold blood, and Frank couldn’t picture someone who did that as a human.

“I’m keeping an eye on the hunter’s spawn. My own accord, not Ashley’s orders.” Frank wondered who Ashley was as the familiar voice spoke again.

“Why? What’s so important about him to you?” Frank’s theory about who it was seemed like it was true at this point, but he kept listening.

“Because he’s the last member of one of the most successful vampire hunting families of the past two centuries, Pete-” Pete. Frank was right, it was Pete talking to the vampire outside. But why?

“Okay, but he just learned about this heritage and this vampire stuff today. He’s hardly a threat to you guys right now. And if you try anything, I won’t hesitate to tell Ray what’s happening.” Pete sounded more serious than Frank had ever heard him, but it was still intimidating. 

“Fine. But you can’t stop me from keeping an eye on him. And Ashley will find out that he’s in Rosewood. And when that happens, there’s nothing I can do to stop her from capturing him or killing him. I’m sorry Pete-” The way the vampire said Pete threw Frank a bit off. It was too human for someone who had tried to kill him. The vampire was too human in general. Frank was even more scared of it because of that.

“It’s fine. But just try not to let Ashley know right now. Please. We need to-” Pete stopped as though he had noticed something. “The window’s open. Someone might be able to hear us.”

“Stercore.” The vampire spoke in a tone that meant that it could only be a curse. “I need to go, Ashley doesn’t know I’m out. Goodbye Pete.”

“So long and goodnight, Fangs.” Pete said, and there was only a sound of two people running in opposite directions.

Pete knew the vampire. Pete knew the vampire and seemed to be on friendly terms with it. Frank was now even more scared for his life, because Pete knew the vampire, and Joe, Andy and Patrick probably didn’t know he knew the vampire, and Pete could be helping them and oh shit.

But he did seem like he was on opposing side of the vampire, and Pete seemed like he was trying to protect Frank from the vampire, but Frank was still terrified. He didn’t know if he would see Pete tomorrow, but if he did, he would have to tell him the he had heard Pete and the vampire talking. But for now, he needed to try his best at getting some sleep, because he had had an interesting day, and needed to take a break from that.

And whether it was from exhaustion or fright, Frank fell asleep.


	4. Wow Look Who The Vampire Is What A Surprise

“Yeah, like that. Now...strike!” Andy said. Frank swung his fist at the taller man, almost nailing him in the stomach when Andy grabbed his fist and flipped him over for the second time that day.

“Ow…” Frank mumbled, rubbing his wrist and glaring up at Andy from the ground.

“Gotta be faster, Frank. You’re holding back from using your full force. It’s fine, you’re not gonna hurt me. Just go for it, I’ll be fine.” Andy pulled Frank up and nearly dislocated his arm in the process. Frank stumbled backwards but got back into fighting position.

“Let loose, Frank. I’ll be fine.” Andy said, and Frank swung his fist as hard as he could. He managed to nail Andy in the cheek, which got a wince from the older man, but he didn’t move his position.

Frank heard somebody walk into the ‘training room’ he and Andy were fighting in, but didn’t pay much attention and just focused on dodging Andy’s blows and getting in another hit.

Frank ducked as Andy swung at him, allowing Frank to nail him in the stomach; hard. Andy doubled over and coughed, giving Frank a thumbs up as he tried not to cough his lungs out.

“Nice...job. Shit...Frank, I think you broke my lungs…” Andy gave a weak laugh at that, while Frank was staring at Andy with wide eyes.

“Are you okay?” Frank asked, walking over to Andy to help him settle down into the chair that was served as the only furniture in the room.

“Peachy. How about we take a break? Go see what Brendon and Patrick or whoever else is with them are doing. I’ll catch up.” Andy waved his hand at Frank in a shooing motion, Frank walking out of the room and down the stairs to the living room, where Brendon, Patrick, and Joe were talking and eating breakfast, even though it was one in the afternoon.

“Where’s Pete? I thought he was here?” Frank asked as he grabbed a plate and piled some eggs and pancakes onto it. He sat beside Brendon and started shoveling the eggs into his mouth. Training made him hungry.

“I saw him walk upstairs, I guess you didn’t see him standing right next to the door.” A voice from the bottom of the stairs said, Frank seeing Pete standing there leaning against the railing looking at Frank with a smirk on his face.

“I was a little distracted…” Frank said, shoveling some more eggs into his mouth. Pete rolled his eyes and walked over, grabbing some bacon from the table all the food was scattered on.

“Wow, whould’ve guessed.” He said before taking a bite out of the bacon.

“Leave me alone, aight? Gimme a break…” Frank could feel the edge in his voice, too defensive and angry. He saw Brendon raise his eyebrows at him, but the younger boy didn’t say anything and just kept eating.

“Whatever man.” Pete said. Frank stared down at his plate and sat in silence with the rest of the group as they ate, Andy breaking the silence when he came down from the ‘training room’.

“Hey guys, what’s up?” Andy greeted the group, which barely got a reaction from anyone.

“Well you all seem annoyed as hell. What happened? Who killed the party?” Frank could feel eyes on him and he looked up at Andy sheepishly.

“Think it might’ve been me…” Frank said. Andy shook his head and rolled his eyes, getting some food and sitting down.

Frank got up after a few minutes and said he was going to the bathroom, walking down the hallway off the kitchen into a bathroom that was surprisingly small for such a large house. Frank closed the door and looked at himself in the mirror; he was sweaty and flushed, his eyes glossed over. He had slight half moons under his eyes, probably from the minimal sleep he had been getting for the past few days, and his hair was matted in the front of his little mohawk thing he had going on. Frank was surprised at how different he looked from just a few days in Rosewood, he seemed paler and even a little older than he had when he had first arrived, which Frank had to believe was from the entire ordeal of being attacked by a vampire, meeting vampire hunters and discovering that his parents were vampire hunters, and being stalked by the same vampire all within the course of three days. Probably wasn’t good for a kid who was only sixteen.

He rubbed his eyes and tried to fix his hair, curling his fingers into a fist to grip his hair and pull on it, something he did when he was stressed out. He turned on the faucet and splashed some water onto his face, looking back into the mirror.

He needed to talk to Pete about what he had heard last night. It wasn’t even debatable to Frank at this point, but with how Pete seemed agitated today -Frank could only assume it was because of the encounter with the vampire- he wasn’t sure if he wanted to start anything to piss Pete off. He was a werewolf after all, and Frank could barely land a punch on Andy.

It didn’t seem like Frank would have to confront Pete himself though, because the bathroom door opened to reveal Pete with a determined look on his face.

“Okay you obviously know something. What is it?” Pete said, stepping into the small bathroom and successfully cramping Frank against the wall.

“I-uh-um…” Frank took a breath before starting again. “Yes.”

Pete closed the door while still staring down Frank. “Frank, ‘yes’ isn't an answer to ‘what is it’. Tell me what you know.” Frank swallowed and looked Pete in the eyes, seeing the aggression behind them.

“I heard you talking to the vampire last night. I heard it all. How do you know it? What the hell is going on?” Pete’s eyes widened, and he took a step back from Frank, bumping into the door.

“I didn’t...I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He said firmly, one hand gripping the doorknob so tightly Frank was sure it was going to break.

“Pete, the thing said your name. Please just tell me what’s happening.” Pete narrowed his eyebrows when Frank said ‘thing’ but he didn’t say anything. He let go of the doorknob and walked right up to Frank, lowering his voice to a murmur.

“I can’t talk to you here. I can’t risk anyone else hearing. Tonight I’m gonna stop at your house and bring you to my place. It’ll be safe to talk there. It’s not weird stop.” Frank smiled weakly and nodded, which seemed to satisfy Pete, as he pulled away and walked out of the bathroom, Frank shortly following after.

-

Frank had fallen into a half-asleep daze waiting for Pete, staring up at the ceiling of his room listening to the other boys breathe and the wind blow. It sounded kind of creepy when you actually thought of it, but Frank didn’t really give a shit.

Frank felt himself slipping into sleep just as he heard something shift in the room and that something coming up next to his ear.

“Wake the fuck up!” Pete said, jolting Frank out of the almost-sleep he was in. He turned to Pete, who was looking over the railing of the bunk bed with only his eyes visible. They seemed to glow in the dim light of the room, but with the fact that he was a werewolf, Frank didn’t think much of it.

“Jesus Christ, you scared me.” Frank said, sitting up in his bunk and looking down at Pete.

“Oh well. C’mon, we’ve gotta get going if you wanna be there for a majority of the night.” Frank let out a soft groan and climbed down the ladder as quietly as he could, following Pete through the window and down the same way he’d gone his first night in Rosewood.

Pete gestured for Frank to follow him before he ran across the street to the edge of the forest and stopped to look back at Frank. Frank ran across the road and Pete, once he saw Frank was following, took off into the forest faster than Frank could’ve imagined.

Frank sighed before running after him, not nearly as fast as Pete, because he wasn’t a werewolf, nor was he very fast in general. He nearly tripped over a rock as Pete rounded a corner about twenty feet ahead, Frank’s lungs already feeling the burn from running. 

Once Frank had caught up with Pete (after Pete had been waiting in a small clearing for a few minutes) Pete turned back to him and flashed a cunning smile that made Frank worry a bit for his safety.

“Ah, come on. I’m not gonna kill you or anything. The moon just kinda makes me go a little nuts sometimes. Be prepared for that when we enter the cave.” Pete knelt down and knocked on the grass, which emitted a startling clang that sounded like metal. He stood up and walked over to stand next to Frank, watching as a large patch of grass lifted up to reveal a hole in the ground lit up by lanterns, a slope leading down into the pit.

Pete threw his hands out, gesturing to the entrance, indicating that Frank go down into it. Frank eyed Pete for a moment, whose pupils had expanded slightly in the time they’d been outside, before walking over to the entrance and sliding down, stumbling to his feet as Pete slid down behind him.

Pete walked ahead, Frank running to catch up to him, not really noticing anything around him until they came upon a room full of people talking and sitting on couches. The walls were wood, beams across the ceiling supporting the dirt roof, and the floors were just dirt, except for the large carpet in the center of the room.

A few people turned to look at Pete and Frank as they walked in, but most payed them no attention. That is, until a voice that was high pitched yet still intimidating yelled from somewhere in the room Frank couldn’t see:

“Pete, who the hell is that?!” The room soon quieted as a man who had to be at least a foot taller than Frank with curly hair down to his shoulders appeared, stopping in front of Pete and successfully shutting down Frank’s ability to speak out of fright.

“Well, I was prowling the streets searching for my next victim-” “Pete!” “Fine, fine.” Pete said, rolling his eyes. “He’s Frank Iero, like, the Ieros. He’s their kid everyone thought was dead.” The man’s eyes widened and he turned to Frank, who hoped to whatever deity there may or may not be that he wasn’t going to kill him, because Frank had already had enough attempted murders on him for one week.

“Damn. How old are you, Frank?” Frank struggled for a moment to form words before choking out: “Sixteen. I’m sixteen.” The man turned back to Pete to give a look of shock, before turning to Frank again.

“Well, we need to talk. Pete, take him up to the clearing. I’ll be up in a second.” The man left as Pete grabbed Frank’s arm and dragged him down a tunnel just off the room, the echoes of their footsteps ringing in Frank’s ears. Pete pulled him around a corner and up a dirt staircase that opened next to a tree at the edge of a small clearing, which was surrounded by an odd glass-looking wall, with lampposts in the corners. There was also a table and chairs set up, and Frank wondered how nobody had found this yet if it was barely hidden in the middle of the woods.

“Take a seat, and don’t worry, nobody can see us in here from the outside.” Pete said, pulling out a chair and sitting down. Frank looked around, now noticing a slight shimmer to the glass wall.

“How is that...what?” Frank addressed Pete, who only looked amused by the question.

“There is a little more than fact to the world, Frank. Look at me, I’m basically a work of fiction. Don’t question the magic.” Frank only blinked in response before he heard the same man from before say:

“Sit down, Frank. We won’t bite.” Pete shook his head at that, which didn’t help Frank emerging uneasiness about the situation. Despite that, Frank sat down in one of the chairs, the man from before sitting at the head of the table, followed by two girls that looked like they could kill him with a glance.

“Right, formal introductions. I’m Ray, this is Lynn,” He pointed to the shorter girl who looked to be about the same age as Frank. “And Lindsey.” The taller girl nodded to Frank.

“Where’s Hayley? I thought she’d be here tonight.” Pete asked Ray, leaving Frank to sit back and watch in awkward silence.

“She does have a life outside of the supernatural world, Pete. She’s not always here.” Ray said, Pete grumbling to himself before Ray turned to Frank.

“So, Frank, tell us what’s happened to you over the past nine years when the entire supernatural world thought you were dead. We’re not going to pressure you, you don’t have to talk about anything you don’t want to.” Frank looked around at the people at the table for a minute before going back to Ray.

“You know what happened to me? I was messed up once I was taken out of a burning house with my parents dead, transferred from kid’s home to kid’s home because I kept getting into fights, got transferred to this town a few days ago and have already had two attempts on my life from the same fucking vampire, and found out that my parents were goddamn vampire hunters. Not only that, but I’ve also made acquaintances with a werewolf and am now in a werewolf camp in the middle of the night surrounded by some Harry Potter barrier bullshit. So, if you ask, I’ve had a freaking fantastic life.” Frank glared at Ray, feeling his skin getting hot and relishing in the anger he’d just let out onto the table.  
The table stayed silent for a long time, Ray just staring at Frank in shock, speechless. That is, until Pete cleared his throat and said:

“I’ll be right back.” He got up from the table and walked off somewhere Frank couldn't see. His movement seemed to bring life back to the table, and Ray blinked a few times before he spoke.

“Frank, you seem like you’ve got a lot of pent-up anger in you. You also seem very confused and frustrated about everything that's happened over the past few days. Tell us some more about it, maybe we can help.”

Frank eyed Ray warily, still a bit fired up from his outburst, and not particularly liking the therapist vibe he was getting from the table at the moment.

“I don’t need a therapy session. I came here to find out why Pete was talking to the vampire that tried to kill me like they were friends.” Frank knew he’d said something wrong the second the words left his mouth, because the looks Lindsey and Lynn gave Ray -who looked as though it was a regular occurrence that Pete did something like that- gave away that it wasn’t the best thing Pete was talking to vampires.

“Really? The vampire Pete is friends with tried to kill you? Twice?” Ray sounded like he didn’t believe Frank in the slightest, which was annoying to say the least.

“Don’t believe me? I watched it murder someone in cold blood right in front of my eyes. Y’know that murder that was reported on the news yesterday? That was it. Went after me next, but ran away because it smelled my blood or something like that and got scared.” Ray’s mood shifted slightly after that, eyebrows creasing with concern.

“It murdered the guy on the news?” He asked, Frank nodding in response. Ray exchanged a glance with Lindsey before leaving the table, saying he was going to talk to Pete.  
That left Frank alone with Lindsey and Lynn, both of whom looked at him like he was an absolute abomination to the Earth.

It was one of the most awkward times in Frank’s life, sitting there facing the girls. They didn’t talk to him or to each other, which Frank saw as kind of weird, but it’s not like he was dying to talk to them either, so there was no loss there.

Ray returned with Pete after about ten or so minutes, Pete looking guilty and Ray looking like an angry parent who’d just finished scolding his kid.

“Frank, Pete’s going to take you back home now. It was lovely meeting you, I hope you come again on more friendlier terms.” Ray said, nudging Pete over to Frank and leading Lynn and Lindsey back down the staircase to the den.

“What happened to you?” Frank asked, Pete only shaking his head and walking past the barrier solemnly. Frank ran after him, looking around Pete’s shoulder to look at his face, which had the emotion of a scolded puppy.

“Pete what-” Pete’s head snapped up suddenly, and he held up a finger to Frank, silencing him.

“Wait here.” He said, straying off into the woods behind a tree, leaving Frank on the path alone, which was great for Frank’s new fear of being attacked by a bloodthirsty vampire in the night.

Frank could hear Pete talking, just barely, and another voice, the vampire from the night before, from behind a tree in the woods.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you Pete, really, I didn’t entirely know what I was doing. Ashley had sent out a few guys for ‘hunting’ as she called it. I think she may have been controlling me. You know I wouldn’t hurt a human, I’m not like that.” The vampire sounded like it was begging, which was creeping Frank out enough as it was, but the controlling part? He didn’t even know vampires could control people, and now that he did he wondered, what if he had been controlled by a vampire before? What if he’d gone out and hurt someone? He couldn’t even remember, and he felt his heartbeat increasing at the thought of it.

“Mikey-” Mikey. The vampire had a name. Not that it was a big surprise to Frank, but he’d only seen the vampire as a monster, not as someone with a name, hell, he’d been calling it and ‘it’ for the past few days. He pushed that into the back of his mind and kept listening.

“Mikey I don’t know what Ashley is doing to you or the coven, but you need to get her to stop. I can help if you want, I know Ray would try to be diplomatic with her, but that wouldn’t work out well.”

“No Pete. She’s got too much support. And Pete? She knows about the boy now. The Iero. Dallon said she grabbed me and read my mind or something, like she’d gotten a tip-off from someone that I knew about something important. She knows about him now, and she wants him dead.”

Frank felt his heart almost stop. The vampire knew bout him, and they wanted him dead. Frank knew from his little knowledge of vampires that they were good hunters and wouldn’t stop at anything to get what they wanted. Frank was terrified, he’d only been in this town for a few days and he already had a band of vampires he didn’t even know how large hunting him down. He debated running back to the home, but he knew that if he went alone, he’d most likely be killed.

 

“You need to tell him that he’s being hunted, and you need to tell the others. I don’t want this kid caught up in the war Ashley seems to be starting. I need to go now, I need to see if I can talk to Ashley. Goodbye.” 

Frank heard the sound of someone running away, and Pete say in a small voice: “Goodbye.” Pete emerged from the trees, looking at Frank like he knew he’d heard the conversation.

“Yes, I know the vampire. His name is Mikey. We’re not going to talk about it here, we’ve wasted enough time as it is. You’re being hunted right now by a vampire coven of around forty vampires, and we’re not taking any chances of you getting caught or killed. Follow me and hold onto my arm.” Frank didn’t have to think twice, latching onto Pete’s arm as he led them through the woods and to the home without a hitch. Although, Frank was hyper-aware of everything around him, listening for footsteps or movement in the trees, and jumping every time an owl or gust of wind made noise. Pete helped him climb up the drain pipe to the window, nodding to Frank before sprinting back across the street and into the woods.

Frank settled into his bed as quietly as he could, finding it hard to relax due to the fact that he was basically on the vampires most wanted list and was probably being stalked at this very moment. But, as he had been out a majority of the night and had just realized that he was pretty exhausted, he fell asleep, his last thought being one of fear.


	5. This Got Very Sad And Dark I Apologize

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> finally figured out how to paste italic/bold text into the chapter so thats a good thing!

The nightmares had only begun the night Pete took Frank to the werewolf camp. Visions of vicious, bloodthirsty vampires tearing him to shreds, teeth stained with blood. He'd wake up in the middle of the night in a pool of sweat and fresh tears on his face, heart pounding in his chest. Even the shadows on the walls were beginning to frighten Frank, he was in a constant state of anxiety about getting attacked by the 'coven' as Pete had called them. He was paranoid about leaving the house to go to the vampire hunters, so much so that Brendon had to lure him out of bed the past three days with a promise of extra food at breakfast. It was hardly much, but Frank was practically hysterical every time someone walked into the boy’s room.

Any bit of his brash personality had been pushed away by fear: he was constantly wringing his hands and tugging his hair, jumping whenever a noise was made in the middle of the night. You wouldn't have even been able to recognize him if you'd known him before he came to Rosewood. He was a complete hysterical mess.

The nightmare tonight had been the worst of them all; Frank was in his previous home, the girl he'd stolen the iPod from standing in front of him silently, chilling smile and completely black eyes that had tear-like tracks of blood streaming from them. Frank had felt paralyzed as she walked forward, a single thin finger pointed towards his face.

" _Potes effugere, venatores pariunt. Nos venit ad te_." Frank didn't recognize the voice she spoke in, but it was female, serious and terrifying at the same time. Frank couldn't move as she then opened her mouth, practically unhinging her jaw to reveal a set of bloodstained teeth -all incisors- and launching herself towards him.

Frank woke up with a hand over his mouth, and he almost screamed before he realized it was Brendon sitting in his bunk on top of him.

"You were crying really loudly and then you started screaming so I had to shut you up to make sure you didn't wake anyone else up." He sounded tired and Frank felt bad for a second, the pang of guiltiness being replaced by fear within a second.

"I'm gonna take my hand of your mouth, and if you scream, I'm gonna punch you in the face, got it?" Frank nodded and Brendon slowly removed his hand. Frank took a gulp of air and sat up to face Brendon.

"You've been having the these nightmares for three days. You haven't told Patrick, Joe, Andy, or me, and Pete already seems to know what going on. I don't even care if you don't tell me, but from all the shit that's happened since you came here, I think it's something we're not eligible to mess with. We're going to their house today and you're gonna freaking tell them what the hell has been going on. Got it?"

Frank nodded again, too out of it to really form a comprehensible answer. Brendon pulled a small bottle from his side and gave it to Frank. In the light from the moon and the street lamps outside, Frank could make out the label on the front: NyQuil.

"You're gonna go the fuck back to bed or so help me I will knock you out myself. Goodnight." Brendon crawled out of Frank's bunk and into his own, soon falling into a pattern of snores and breaths. Frank looked at the NyQuil before taking a sip of it -no more than a shot- and placing it at the foot of his bed. It only took a maximum of twenty minutes for him to feel drowsy again, so he collapsed on the pillow and let himself fall asleep.

- 

“So you’re telling me that you’ve been having nightmares and getting messages in your dreams for the past three nights? _And_ Pete took you to the werewolf camp?” Patrick snapped, Frank flinching in response. He’d just told Patrick, Joe, and Andy about what had been happening for the past three nights, but Patrick had interrupted him before he could tell them what the voice in his dream the previous night had said.

“Yeah. And I got a message last night.” Frank’s voice was just above a whisper, because Patrick’s temper seemed to be burning up, and Frank didn’t want to cause the explosion.

Patrick heaved out a short sigh, and took a breath before asking: “Well, what was it?”

“ _Potes effugere, venatores pariunt. Nos venit ad te_. Then she tried to kill me.” Patrick’s head whipped around at that, eyes wide set in a way that Frank couldn’t tell if it was fear or anger.

“She? Was it a voice you recognized?” Patrick’s voice was tight, his teeth gritting as he spoke. Frank opened his mouth to respond, but Patrick interrupted him.

“No! Of course not! Because she said ‘you can’t escape, hunter’s spawn. We’re coming for you’! That means that the vampires can get into your dreams now! That’s just freaking great!” Patrick had stood up now and was pacing the space behind the couch, Joe, Andy, and Frank watching him slowly lose his shit. He tugged at his hair and let out an exasperated sigh, closing his eyes for a few seconds. The room was quiet, the anticipation palpable among the four.

Patrick threw his hands down and stomped over to a side table barren of anything on it. He glared at the table before kicking it across the room, letting out a loud: “Mother _fucker_!”

Frank flinched at the table crashing against the wall, while Patrick stood silent, fuming.

“Patrick. Go for a walk or something. You’re scaring the kid.” joe said. Patrick shot a deathly glare at Joe before storming out, and Frank breathed a sigh of relief as the door shut loudly.

Joe turned back to him.

“Sorry Frank. Patrick’s a bit worked up over this right now, he’ll calm down in a bit.” He paused. “He’s right to be worked up now. If I’m thinking what he’s thinking, the voice you hear in your dream was the coven’s leader, Ashley.”

Frank felt the room get darker and colder as Joe said Ashley's name, which freaked him out more than he already was.

“Er, what’s her whole deal?” Frank’s voice squeaked towards the end of the sentence, and he saw Andy smirk from his chair.

“Well,” Joe started. “From what knowledge we have from Pete -he apparently likes to spy on the vampire ‘lair’ in his spare time- she came to power not all that long ago. He said that she basically ‘slept her way to the top with murder and not sex’. She’s also a pretty young vampire for well, a _vampire_. She’s like sixty something years old? I don’t really know the specific details, but Pete said that she's wicked powerful. She can control people by putting them in this trance that Pete said was absolutely awful to watch, as well as she can read minds, run super fast, and she’s also one of the very few vampires nowadays who can shape-shift into an animal. That’s all we really have on her.” Frank didn’t realize he was shaking until Andy put a hand on his shoulder. This girl sounded terrifying, and she was after Frank. Fucking fantastic.

“Not to scare you more -okay this’ll scare you more- she also has a strong hate for vampire hunters, and that’s probably the reason she’s going after you.” Andy said, which made Joe look at him in a ‘come on dude the kid’s already scared’ type of look.

Frank wished he could’ve reacted in the same way that Patrick had. He wished he could’ve thrown something or cursed and screamed until Joe knocked him out. But no, he could only think of how easy it would be for the vampire girl to kill him. And also the fact that neither Joe nor Andy seemed to know about Pete’s vampire friend who Frank knew was the one giving him the information. It seemed for the best though, because they were vampire hunters, and Frank reckoned if they knew Pete was ‘friends with the enemy’ they’d probably disown him from their little vampire ass kicking group.

“Okay. Just to review; I’m being hunted by a very dangerous group of vampire, they could probably kill me without any effort, I’m pretty much fucked right now, and I don’t have anyone to walk me home because Brendon left to finish his chores.” Frank said, Joe taking a moment to tick the things off in his hand before nodding.

“Fantastic. Why don’t we just leave me in the woods for them to kill me now. I’d be easier for all of us.” Frank said, slouching back in his seat and sighing.

“We’re not doing that, Frank.” Andy said. “We’re gonna help you as much as we can. What do you want us to do?” Frank looked at Andy for a moment, then at Joe, then at the door, then back to Andy.

“What I’d really want is to be able to talk to my parents. They could probably shed a little more light on the situation and maybe I kinda just want to meet them. My only memory is of my mother making dinner one night and my father’s ring. But that obviously can’t happen, because they’re _dead_.” Frank was just ranting now, letting out as much emotion as he could before he began to feel scared again. This whole ‘vampires are gonna kill me’ fear came and went, but only for fleeting bursts. Frank took the moments where he wasn’t completely terrified to try and get as much out as he could before falling back into his constantly anxious mindset.

He saw Andy and Joe exchange a glance before Andy turned back to him and started with a: “Well…”

“Well what?” Frank asked. This couldn’t be good.

“Well, Patrick might be a bit of a necromancer on the side from doing this, and knows how to communicate with the dead. And maybe if you managed to come here tomorrow he could, y’know, talk to them.” Frank only blinked in response.

“So you’re saying we have a seance? No way, absolutely not. I’ve seen the fucking Insidious movies, that shit _never_ goes right.” Frank couldn’t even imagine what could happen if they tried to summon his parents. Probably get members from the Italian mafia instead that were ready to kill him. He didn’t want to take the chance.

“Frank, could you at least try? You said you wanted to see them. This could be your only shot.” Joe said, which barely reassured Frank. He didn’t care if it was his only shot -well, maybe he did a little- he’d had enough of horror movie bullshit for an entire lifetime in under two weeks, he didn’t need anymore.

 “I know, but I’m telling you, it won’t go right.” Frank argued, sitting up from his position on the couch now.

“Frank. We can at least try, alright? Patrick knows what he’s doing. What harm could it do?” Joe said, and Frank thought, _well, I could die_ , but didn’t say it out loud.

After a few minutes of thought, Frank finally gave in. He’d come back tomorrow ready to either die or see his parents for essential the first time he could remember. And to say he was terrified was an understatement.

-

Joe had walked him home after Frank had lunch and another training session with Andy, but the twist this time was that he was throwing knives at a target instead of punches. Frank discovered he was awful at aiming, but he had a decent throw, which Andy said was perfect when your enemy was condensed into a pack, but it didn’t help much when there was a one-on-one. That really boosted Frank’s self esteem.

He’d thanked Joe before he walked into the home, surprised by how quiet it was. It was only two, nobody could be asleep at this time, could they? As Frank walked into the living room, he realized that there was noise coming from the kitchen, so he headed there to see what was going on.

He was greeted with the faded blue color of Alyssa’s hair. She had her back turned to him and she looked to be washing the dishes. Frank cleared his throat to get her attention, which nearly made her drop the plate she was holding, and she turned to face him.

“Welcome back. You missed chores.” She put the plate down and leaned against the sink, crossing her arms. Frank noticed she was wearing one of Jen’s shirts, a simple black muscle top with a moon on the front.

“Sorry, I was, uh, out.” Alyssa was staring at him like he’d just admitted he was a serial killer, which made this entire uncomfortable encounter all the more uncomfortable.

“Tell, me Frank, where were you ‘out’?” Frank couldn’t believe the power of the stare she had. It was like her eyes were drilling into him and pulling out all his thoughts. And the question she asked wasn’t making the situation better for Frank.

“In town, just...walking around…” Alyssa made a noise somewhere between a laugh and a scoff, pushing herself off the counter.

“I’m not stupid Frank. You were with the hunters, weren’t you?” Frank was so surprised by the question all he could do was stare at her until he realized he had to respond.

“How do you...what? Did Brendon-” She cut him off before he could finish.

“No, Bren doesn’t even know I know about all this stuff. I’ve lived in this town my entire life, it’d be hard not to notice all the crap that happens. I also had a bit of a first hand encounter with all this stuff, seeing as my parents were in the same line of work as yours.” Frank had been caught completely off guard by this whole conversation, but when Alyssa mentioned his parents, he was absolutely thrown for a loop.

“You know about my parents?” He hated how his voice got a bit choked up at the end, but he was incredibly emotional right now and couldn’t really help it. He saw a look of sympathy cross her face when he choked, and she continued with a softer voice.

“My parents always talked about yours. It was amazing what they did really, in their line of work. I was fifteen when my parents told me what happened to them. They never mentioned a son, it seemed like nobody knew about you until you showed up here. I recognized your last name when we got your papers, but I didn’t believe you were actually Linda and Frank’s kid until I saw you. You look a lot like your dad from the pictures my parents showed me.” She paused for a second before giving Frank a soft smile.

“Sorry if I came off as rude or harsh, I was a bit skeptical about you coming here of all places. Great for a vampire hunter’s kid, a town with vampires. I kind of didn’t want you here because I knew it wouldn’t end well. And from the looks of you, I’ve made an assumption I’m right. Tell me what’s happened since you got here, don't leave any details out. Lay it on me.” Frank just stared at her for another minute before he regained his composure, and he began talking.

He told her about the first night with the murder and the attempted murder on him, then about how he met Patrick, Joe, Andy, and Pete, then the vampire outside the window and how he was talking to Pete, then about how Pete took him to the werewolf camp and told him about the coven. He then told the story about how he’d been having gruesome nightmares for the past three nights, even telling her what the voice in his dream had said. He finished with what had happened today, ending it with the fact that he’d been sucked into attempting to talk to his parents tomorrow.

Once he finished, he waited for Alyssa to respond. It took a while, but she finally let out a heavy sigh and looked at Frank with pity in her eyes.

“I’m sorry Frank. I want to help, I really do, but I can’t do that and run the home. But i can promise you this: if something happens to you where you disappear, I can keep the cops away for at least a week. If you die, it’ll be a murder. If something worse than that happens, you’re dead. That’s as much as I can do. I’ll tell Jen about this, she’ll understand. Patrick and the guys will keep you alive.” Frank just nodded again, because Alyssa was basically telling him he was probably going to get hurt at some point, or maybe even die, and that she’d make sure that there would be no trace back to anyone involved. That meant Patrick, Joe, Andy, and most likely Pete wouldn’t get questioned for anything, which made Frank feel just a tiny bit better. But she had also mentioned something worse than death, which was something Frank couldn’t think of right now, not to mention imagine. He didn’t want to think of all this right now, because he was tired and stressed and wanted to cry because of everything happening to him right now.

Alyssa said just one more thing to Frank:

“Everyone went out to the park with Jen. They’ll be back around four or five. You should get some rest, you obviously need it.” Frank nodded again -God, he felt like a bobblehead with all the nodding he was doing- and walked upstairs to his room, climbed into his bunk, and passed out without a thought about vampires.  



	6. "Fuck" Is The Only Way To Summarize This Chapter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the long ass hiatus school started and i have been very stressed but here it is! my precious child please enjoy it thanks

Frank woke up with anxiety. It was almost routine now, he had been waking up with anxiety the past three days. But it was more than just “vampires are trying to kill me”, it was the - what should he call it? A seance? The only experience he’d had with seances were the ones in horror movies, and those were often the ones where somebody got possessed and killed five children.

So yeah, Frank had anxiety.

And today was the perfect juxtaposition- outside it was sunny and bright out, possibly the first fully sunny day Frank had seen since moving to Rosewood. Meanwhile, Frank was in a particularly gloomy mood about the day, and the sunshine just made him feel even more anxious (somehow).

He sat up and looked across the room to where Brendon normally slept, but the bunk was empty, the sheets messy and twisted. Frank glanced around the rest of the room; nobody else was with him. They must’ve had breakfast already, or were having it right now. Frank scrambled towards the ladder of his bunk and climbed down, sprinting down the stairs to the living room.

The kids were sitting on the floor in a circle, eyes glued to the TV. Alyssa and Jen were watching from behind the couch; Alyssa’s expression was hard, while Jen looked like she was about to cry. Frank look a moment to listen to the news:

“ _ -the message was found at about six forty-five this morning by Elise Kendall on her daily walk. Katherine is with Elise at the scene. Katherine. _ ”

The camera switched to a young woman with curled black hair, her eyes done up with tons of mascara and eyeliner. She held a channel 5 microphone with both hands tight, like it would be taken from her if she didn’t hold onto it. Her dress was a sunny yellow color that almost hurt Frank’s eyes it was so bright. The look on her face was solemn, until she nodded her head and began to speak.

“ _ Thank you Dave. I’m here with Elise Kendall, the woman who discovered the chilling message on her walking route this morning. _ ”

The camera panned over slightly to reveal an older woman with silver hair, her face white, as if she had just seen a ghost. Katherine tilted the microphone towards her, and she began to speak.

“ _ Well, I was just on my morning walk, my regular route, nothing was different. When I started to notice this rancid smell that I just couldn’t shake. As I kept walking, the smell got worse, and when I turned the corner, there it was. This awful  message and an odd sense of cold, shocking for a day like today. _ ” She stuttered her words out, hugging her body as though she was still cold, despite the day having to be no less than seventy degrees.

Katherine took the microphone back and faced the camera, explaining further.

“ _ This message -which we’ll pull up on the screen now- _ ” An image popped up on screen, and the kids leaned in close to the TV to see what it said. Frank looked, his heart seizing up in his chest when he read it.

There were four deer carcasses, their stomachs presumably torn open (Frank couldn’t really tell, the news has censored it out) and what looked like writing in blood scrawled on the pavement.

It read: “ _ Watch out; we’re coming. _ ” Although it could’ve been perfectly reasonable for Frank to not think that this possibly deer-blood scribed message was about him, it was hard to think it wasn’t.

He caught Alyssa’s glance out of the corner of his eye, and she was staring at him, her expression stony. Frank ignored her for the time being, focusing more on how much he didn’t want to go to the seance now. First, being chased by a vampire back to where he lives for the time being. Now, he gets dead deers and a message in blood. Maybe the vampires will just show up at his door next, grab by the throat him and leave him dead on the doorstep. That would just be fantastic.

The TV suddenly turned off, eliciting a series of annoyed groans from the kids sat in front of it. Jen held the remote in her hand, face white and stern.

“You guys have chores to do. The list is in the kitchen.” The kids let out a sigh of exasperation, and begrudgingly went into the kitchen. Frank started after them, but Jen called for him, her voice breaking when she said his name.

Frank turned around, and saw that Jen was crying, which shocked him. She wasn’t a person to cry, from what he knew. 

“What is it? What’s wrong?” He asked, and Jen wiped her tears.

“Alyssa told me last night what was happening, and after seeing that...oh God Frank I’m so sorry.” She pulled Frank into a ferocious hug that startled him. He couldn’t remember the last time he was hugged by an adult. He was barely hugged in his last home. The kids just didn’t care about him. But here, in Rosewood, they cared. It might be because of how he’s got a vampire bounty on his back, but it was affection, and now  _ he _ was tearing up. 

“You - you don’t have to be sorry. It’s not your fault.” Frank felt a tear fall down his cheek, and he saw Alyssa standing behind Jen. She was smiling sadly, her arms crossed. 

Jen let go of him, and Frank longed for her to hug him again. He wiped his tears quickly, and lifted his head up high. It was Alyssa who spoke this time. 

“I know you’re not sure about the er-,” She cast a side-eyed glance at Jen. “ _ thing _ .” Frank knew she must mean the seance. “Yeah…” He said.

“So, here’s this. For protection.” She handed him something silver on a chain- a necklace. Upon further inspection it appeared to be a mini Jesus nailed to a cross on a chain. A crucifix. 

“Pure silver. Wards off vampires. And it’s a cross, so they’ll wanna stay away from you because of that too.” She said. Frank put on the piece of metal and let it fall against his chest. His heart swelled with gratitude, and he looked at Jen and Alyssa with a genuine smile. 

“Thank you.” He said. Jen smiled at him and wiped her eyes. “You need to eat before you go, I’ll make you something now.” She started to walk away, but came back to give Frank a quick hug. Then she hurried into the kitchen. 

“Frank,” Alyssa started. “Do you want me to come with you?” Frank took the idea into consideration. 

“No, I think I need to do this myself. But thank you for the offer.” He decided. Alyssa looked disappointed, but she just nodded.

“Okay, but if anything happens to you, I will personally send Patrick to Hell.” She said, and Frank smiled at her threat. 

-

By the time Frank was on his way to the hunter’s house, Jen had forced three sandwiches into him, hugged him at least twenty times, and gotten her tears on him every time she did. Frank didn’t mind though, he liked the attention. It made him feel warm, which was new for him. He always felt cold and closed off from the world, but this morning he felt encouraged and even ready to go to the hunter’s house. But that feeling began to fade as he approached the long dirt driveway leading to the house. 

The walk down the driveway felt like stepping into a new world. The trees seemed to close him in and make everything darker, the sinking feeling in his chest from when he woke up returning. He told himself it was all in his head, but when he knocked on the door, he was almost sure that something was about to go very wrong.

It was Joe who answered the door, welcoming Frank and calling out to alert Andy and Patrick. Patrick marched down the stairs looking to be in a good mood. 

“G’morning Frank. Andy told me about the idea for the seance. You up for it?” He asked. Frank nodded. 

“Good, we’ll get started right now. Joe, go get the emergency seance candles from the car. Frank, help me close the curtains and set up the table.” 

-

Frank had to admit it, he did not know how much effort was put into setting up a seance. All the curtains and doors had to be closed, so they were in complete isolation. That freaked him out a bit, he didn’t like the idea of being completely locked in. 

They also had to have a certain amount of candles on the table, which Patrick told him had to be divisible by three. The table must also be circular, with some food at the center of it to attract the spirits. Patrick had Andy make some soup to put at the center of the table. Once they had finished, they all sat around the table, the room completely dark aside from the candlelight. Patrick began to explain what was going to happen.

“Okay, when we start, we’ll all join hands and then say “Our Beloved Frank and Linda, we bring you gifts from life into death. Commune with us, Frank and Linda, and move among us.” We say that as many times as it takes to get a response. We start with simple yes and no questions, and if they decided to communicate through me, then we ask the heavier questions. Anything goes wrong, we break the circle and open the curtains. Understand?” 

Nobody spoke, and Patrick raised his hands to start the circle, but a voice spoke from behind Frank. 

“Yeah, why wasn’t I invited?” Patrick seemed to have an aneurysm at the question, while Frank tensed and felt on the verge of a panic attack. He heard the sound of someone walking, and a smiling face appeared next to Patrick’s in the candlelight. It was Pete. 

Patrick looked at Pete, startled and possibly very angry. 

“Jesus, how did you even get  _ in  _ here?” Patrick snapped at Pete. Pete just let out a soft chuckle and replied, “Oh I’m nothing holy, I don’t deserve that recognition. But, you do leave your kitchen window unlocked. Maybe you should check that next time.” 

Patrick glared at him with fury for a few seconds, before telling Pete to sit down, his words clipped with anger. Despite the scare Pete gave him, Frank was grateful for him being here. He was a bit of a comic relief to the situation. 

Once Pete had sat down, Patrick raised his hands, Andy and Pete grabbing them. Pete took Frank’s left hand with his other, and Joe took his right. Patrick checked that all of them were holding hands, and then began to lead the chant. 

“ _ Our beloved Frank and Linda, we bring you gifts from life into death. Commune with us, Frank and Linda, and move among us. _ ” 

Frank spoke quietly and stuttered over his words, his anxiety rising by the second. He squeezed Pete’s hand, and Pete looked at him with a smile, squeezing back with reassurance. The group waited in silence, tension in the air. After a minute of nothing, Patrick led them in the chant again, and they waited once more.

Suddenly, the flame on the candles moved, and there were three sharp knocks that seemed to come from the table. 

It was Patrick who spoke. “Frank and Linda, are you here? Knock once for yes, twice for no.” Frank felt himself sweating with anticipation. There was a single knock, and Frank felt his chest become tense, his breathing stopped. 

Patrick looked to Frank. “Frank, do you want to ask them anything?” Frank stared at Patrick and shook his head. He wasn’t ready yet. Patrick nodded. 

He asked other questions, “Do you remember your son? Once for yes, twice for no.” There was another single knock. Frank felt on the verge of tears. He felt the presence of his parents in the room, he felt as if they were standing right behind him. 

“He’s very scared, and he’s in trouble. Can you offer any advice? Once for yes, twice for no.” The room was silent for a moment, before another single knock ruptured it. 

Patrick looked at Frank again, “I’ll tell them they can talk through me, ask them what you like, okay?” Frank nodded slowly, afraid to speak. 

“Frank or Linda, would you like to speak to your son through me? Once yes, twice no.”

There was a single knock heard again, and Patrick nodded. “You are free to enter me.” Suddenly he went rigid, his eyes rolling back into his head. He turned towards Frank, all expression gone from his face. 

Patrick opened his mouth and spoke with a surprisingly feminine voice. 

“ _ Oh Frank, you’ve grown so much. I wish I was there to see it. _ ”

Frank felt his heart drop in his chest. Those were the first words that his mother said to him in nine years, and they were through a man in his mid-to-late twenties who had mediocre anger management. So naturally, Frank began to tear up. 

“Mom?” Frank sounded like a child, but he didn’t care. He hadn’t heard his mother’s voice in almost a decade, he barely remembered it, and he had a right to sound like a child after what he’s been through.

“ _ Yes Frank, oh how we’ve missed you. I’m so sorry for leaving you and for the mess you’re in. I want to show you something, if you’ll let me. _ ”

Frank nodded. “Yes, of course, what is it?”

Frank suddenly felt himself leave his body, but he could still feel Pete and Joe’s hands in his own, just barely. He was standing in a room that he remembered only vaguely. It was his old house, he was standing in the living room. In front of him was his mother, smiling warmly. 

“ _ Come here, Frank. Do you remember this place? _ ” She asked.

Frank nodded. “Yes, what is it that you want to show me?”

His mother’s expression suddenly changed into a twisted smile, and she started walking towards Frank slowly. 

“ _ You fool _ ,” her voice changed as well, it sounded like a hundred voices at once, and the sound of nails on a chalkboard. “ _ You’re so vulnerable. Just a few words from your dead mommy and you’re like putty in my hands. _ ” 

Frank tired to speak, but it felt as if his mouth were sewn shut. 

“ _ You won’t be able to run away from what isn’t real, hunter’s spawn, but I can ruin you in seconds if you try to scream. So just keep your eyes open and listen carefully. _ ” She said. As soon as she finished, her face began to sizzle and burn, revealing the tendons and bone underneath. Frank tried to look away, but he was frozen in place, he couldn’t even scream. He watched his mother’s body burn away until she was just a skeleton with smoking flesh hanging off some of the bones. Frank felt sick to his stomach.

“ _ You will not succeed in hiding. We will find you, Frank Iero, and we will  _ destroy  _ you. _ ” The corpse that once resembled Frank’s mother thrust out her arm at him, and he felt something squeeze his left hand before he lost consciousness.

-

Frank felt himself come to at least half a dozen times, picking up on various bits of conversation before passing out again. He heard a feminine voice arguing with someone who sounded like Patrick, and another time heard someone chanting in another language Frank didn’t recognize. 

He was up permanently by the seventh time, staring at the ceiling of what he took to be the living room of the hunter’s house.

“It’s been five hours Patrick, do you think he’s…?” Frank recognized the voice of Pete in his groggy state. 

“He’ll be fine, Pete. He’s waking up now.” A feminine voice said, and Frank heard someone walking over to him.

A face appeared above his head, a girl with bright orange hair tied up into two buns. She looked older than Frank, but younger than the hunters - probably early twenties. 

“Hey, how are you feeling?” She asked softly, as if she were talking to a baby.

“Uh, tired. And…” He trailed off, thinking for a moment about what had happened. “What the fuck just happened?” 

The girl laughed and shook her head, gesturing to him. 

“Sit up, I’ll explain it.” 

-

“And so, we’ve come to the conclusion that you were talking to neither of your parents at all, and you were actually talking to the vampire leader, Ashley.” Hayley finished, awaiting Frank’s response.

Frank sat there for a second, contemplating.

“Jesus, how did she even do that?”

Hayley sighed in exasperation, and Frank was startled. Had he said something that annoyed her?

“Well, these geniuses performed an incredibly dangerous seance with you, I honestly expected more from them…”

“Listen, I’ve been doing this shit longer than you have, so if you think you’re better than I am-” Patrick rose from his seat, face red and his fists clenched.

Hayley whipped her head around to face the angry hunter. “I’m not saying I’m better than you, I was saying you made some dangerous mistakes that could’ve gotten Frank killed. Understand?” Her voice seemed to silence all noise in the room, and Frank didn’t think that was just him.

Patrick sat down without another word, obviously still fuming silently. Hayley turned back to Frank and continued her speech.

“They also fed you some misinformation. Ashley isn’t a young vampire, she’s six hundred years old. And she can do things I’ve never seen a vampire do.” Frank felt himself slipping into a panic again.

“What do we do?” He asked, sounding like a scared child, which honestly wasn’t that far off from what he was. 

Hayley puffed out her chest a little and began to stand up as she spoke.

“You’ll be staying here tonight, you can’t go home after something like that. I’ll be staying too.” She turned to the hunters and Pete, who had been staring Frank down for the entire time he had been conscious. “Is that okay?” 

Everyone nodded (well, Patrick did after a nudge from Joe). Hayley seemed satisfied with that, and sent Joe off to tell Jen and Alyssa what had happened. 

Frank took notice to how similar Hayley and Patrick were. They were both leaders, and held themselves in a such a similar way that they could’ve been siblings, or sworn enemies. They seemed to be leaning towards the latter. 

But Frank couldn’t bother himself with that too much, he had other things to worry about. Like how he was almost killed and slightly scarred for life by a six hundred-year-old vampire, or how he would most likely have to deal with Hayley and Patrick bickering for as long as he was at the hunters, because they had already started up again. 

He took a deep breath and looked to Pete, who was still staring at him. He remembered how smoothly Pete had slipped into the house without anyone noticing, and for a horrid second Frank thought that Pete could be a spy for the vampires, but he pushed it aside. Pete was a werewolf. Vampires didn’t like werewolves. Pete wasn’t going to kill him. 

But that anxiety still hung in the back of his head.


End file.
